Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
be fully and aromatically ripe, and ready to eat straight away. Once the last fruit
has ripened, remove the plant immediately for composting.
Tips for success with melons
Take off all side-shoots until the main stem reaches 50cm. This keeps fruit off the
ground, lets you keep an eye on the bottom of the main stem and lets more light
reach neighbouring plants (a radish or two works wonders to distract incoming
slugs).
Not every side-shoot has to have a fruit on it; to stagger the harvest a little, it is better
if they don't all set at once. Aim for one near the bottom of the plant, one near the
top, and one somewhere in between.
As the fruit sets, nip out each side-shoot two leaves past the first baby melon and
remove any other fruitlets; or, if you don't want a fruit on a side-shoot, remove
them as they appear and limit the shoot to five leaves.
Later on in the season offshoots may appear from the side-shoots, and these
should be removed as soon as you see them.
From planting until the fruits begin to ripen, water the bed regularly - but to avoid
fungal diseases try not to get the leaves or stems wet. The soil should be moist but
never waterlogged, which tends to split the developing fruit.
When a fruit is roughly the size of a tennis ball it should be supported with a net
bag, or the weight may damage the plant. The nets used for commercial fruit are
perfect; just slip them over the fruits and secure them to the handiest loop on the
growing string. The bag may need to be loosened once or twice as the fruit swells.
When ripening begins, decrease watering and increase ventilation to reduce the
risk of fungi and moulds.
If you are uncertain about the fertility of your tunnel soil, give a phosphate feed
once or twice while the fruits are swelling, but in good soil properly dressed with
rich compost this will not be necessary.
Judging the ripeness of watermelons is more difficult, since they stay firm until
over-ripe. As soon as the tendrils near the fruit stem turn yellow and die back,
give the fruit a sharp rap with your knuckle. If it sounds hollow rather than full,
it is worth cutting one fruit to check. Cut with a sharp knife, taking at least 2cm
of stem to reduce bleeding and store in a cool place.
Melons can be kept for only a few days before they go mouldy. You can stretch
this to a week or so by refrigerating harvested melons whole. Any cut pieces
should be wrapped in cling film or placed in plastic bags and chilled quickly. The
only long-term storage option is to cut the flesh into cubes, or into balls using an
ice-cream scoop, and freeze them on baking trays. Once they are fully frozen,
transfer them to sealed plastic bags, where they will keep for about a year.
